Brand New Colony
by Record Cover
Summary: RikkuGippal: 500 word Drabble series: There's nothing left to do but start a Brand New Colony. Chapter 6/20 UP!
1. Your Babies

A little series of drabbles/short story. This one is in honour of PrettyGothGirl, ladynicole and Jezzi's birthdays. Happy belated all:)**  
**

* * *

** Brand New Colony  
One-1 - I Wanna Have Your Babies**

* * *

Gippal was chasing Rikku over the house. He caught up with her in the bedroom and tackled her fast. 

Dumping a madly giggling Rikku onto the bed, Gippal crawled in next to her and pinned her to the mattress, holding her arms up above her head as he tickled her. Rikku screamed with laughter and kicked at him, attempting to push him off as she yelled for mercy.

Gippal let go, eventually, and Rikku flopped over on top of him. That was when she popped the big question. The big, big scary question.

"Gippal?"

"Hm?"

"Can I have your babies?"

* * *

**One-2 - Sweaty Palms**

Gippal paced the room worriedly. Rikku- she- she- she wanted kids? So soon?! Gippal had been expecting maybe another year or two, keep her all to himself for a little longer. But no the little lady just couldn't wait and now he didn't even want to have sex with her anymore. Gippal didn't know how to be a father, but Rikku had told him brightly; "Well everyone has to start _somewhere_, we're _married _you know,", but kids hadn't exactly come to mind just yet.

His palms were sweaty. His heart raced. Gulping, Gippal tried to keep calm. But he couldn't.

* * *

**One-3 - Stalling and Paranoia**

A loud thunk indicated that Gippal had slammed his glass down onto the table's polished wooden surface.

Baralai looked up from his own glass and set it down as well, though with a gentler, more disciplined and soft _chink_. He chuckled and brushed stray hairs out of his forehead, tucking them neatly into his bandanna. Personally, Baralai didn't see why Gippal was so worried, after all, with marriage came a family and children. And although some couples chose to stay childless, the Praetor wouldn't put it past Rikku to want to settle down and start a family. Besides, Baralai thought, what was the big deal? _Surely_ Gippal had thought about the prospect of children before he had asked Rikku to marry him?

Or, seeing as it was Gippal… perhaps not.

Gippal trudged home disgruntled and worried. He knew Rikku had wanted children from the start but he hadn't counted on having them so soon. Now Rikku wanted kids she might stop taking the potion and if she did she'd get pregnant and- and- Gippal wasn't ready to be a father! Well it wasn't like he'd tell her not to stop taking the potion, and it wasn't like he refused to have children at all or anything but it was all _far_ too soon for his liking.  
Why, Gippal wondered, he and Rikku had to be the first to have a baby he didn't know. Tidus and Yuna had been together for years and they were yet to have a child, so why couldn't _they_ wait as well?

Gippal didn't see a way around it. He didn't _want_ to give up his sex life, but if having sex meant having a baby then he'd try and stall it as much as possible to buy some time to think it all out.


	2. Battle Tactics

Part 2 in honour of siilentfall's birthday. Lol updates are quick but I've been working on this for a while now, besides, each chapter is TINY so yeah. Heh.

* * *

** Brand New Colony  
Two - Battle Tactics  
**

* * *

Three days. So far, so good; the plan was working. Gippal was playing hard to get; he knew it would piss Rikku off but also knew that she would think he was just messing around with her. 

And so that's what he did; he would smirk and trail his fingers up her arm, she would shudder and try to kiss him again, and he'd let her get away with it for a few moments before he broke it off, winked at her and darted out of the room. God, she was driving him _insane_ and he had forgotten just how irresistible she was to him.

Anyway, Gippal knew no matter how hard he tried to get away from Rikku, he wouldn't be able to resist it for long. He needed to think, fast. 

Damn, where were all his battle tactics when he needed them?

"Rikku?"

"Yeah?" She blinked up at him with big green eyes.

"About kids. Uh." He mumbled, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, obviously in discomfort. Rikku didn't know whether to giggle at his cuteness or to be worried at his possible negative reaction to the idea of starting a family.

"Yeah?"

"Uh. That is- I" Rikku frowned. Gippal wasn't normally this nervous. Gippal braced himself. Where was his charm when he needed it? He was a cool, suave, sexy man and he could breeze through this talk easily. So why was it so hard? "You want kids. _Now_?"

Rikku blinked. "I'm asking what you think of the idea… I mean," She bit her lip. "I've been taking the potion for months now and I don't want to keep taking it. Wouldn't it be okay if I got pregnant anyhow?"

Gippal knew what she was saying. They were married, they were settled, it was safe to have children now. But was he _ready_ for it? Was _she_ ready for it? But- Oh, ah, three days hadn't been enough, he still hadn't decided whether he was prepared for the responsibility babies added.

"You don't get pregnant after one night, you know," Rikku looked down at her feet. Somewhere, somehow, even after all that time, there was still a vulnerable, insecure young girl inside her and she wanted, no needed, someone to guide her. She couldn't do this alone. Was Gippal really that hesitant? "If I don't take the potion this week and we have sex, it won't mean I'll get pregnant right away. Sometimes it takes _months_ to fall pregnant. We still have _time_, you know, to think it out." She wasn't stupid; she knew Gippal, being the person he was, would want to think over it with something like this.

"I know." _But still,_ Gippal thought. Could they at least think it out, together?

"Will you be alright with it, if it happens, then?"

He paused. "Yeah, I will be," He replied weakly. Well _of course_ he was alright with having a baby.

He just wasn't sure he was ready for one yet.


	3. Revelation

**Brand New Colony  
Three - Revelations**

* * *

Rikku was feeling excited. She kept rubbing her tummy in little circles. Her heart fluttered and she hoped the healer would come back with the affirmative.

Gippal was nervous. He felt sick. Oh, oh no, a baby, no not yet, he moaned. It was all _his_ fault, but it _wasn't_ because _he_ hadn't been the one to turn all sexy seductive the other night… he just hadn't been able to control himself.

It just so happened that Gippal had come home from the Machine Faction one Monday evening only to find her in the shower, and of course, he'd been unable to resist but to slip into the shower next to her. He smelled bad, he claimed, and needed to clean up for the day. Of course, it'd just been and excuse to hop in with her and catch another glimpse of that fabulous butt, but he hadn't been expecting to forget his newly decided no-sex-until-ready-for-baby rule.

Obviously by the end of the night he had tackled Rikku to the bed and made love to her, forgetting completely about worrying about knocking his wife up.

It had also been a case of coincidental accident for Rikku, for Monday was the exact day she took her birth-control potion, the bright pink concoction that left a sweet aftertaste on the tongue, but caught up in the moment that was Gippal through and through, the little glass vial was left untouched and forgotten on the bedside table.

The next morning, Rikku looked up for the clock and instead caught sight of the potion, and remembered horrifyingly that she hadn't taken it. Well, _oops_, she thought.

She shrugged, thinking, well what was the worst that could happen? She would conceive, and well that wasn't exactly bad news. To her, at least. Still Rikku couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty because no matter how much her insides were jumping in joy for hope that she would fall pregnant, Gippal hadn't told her he was alright with a family addition.

"Gippal?" She had asked two weeks later.

"Yeah, sweetie," He wasn't paying attention, rifling through his papers, but still a warm hand brushed her cheek.

"Um. I. That is."

"Mmm."

"I wanna- Iwannagetapregnancytest."

And so an hour and a half later Rikku emerged from the bathroom, holding the little piece of white plastic in her hand. She gave it to Gippal without speaking, and Gippal looked down at it.  
Two little blue stripes.

His eye widened. But blue meant- blue meant- _Oh fuck_. _She's pregnant_.

He'd lasted a _week_. _One freaking week_. _Pathetic_. And after one week, seven days, he hadn't gotten _anywhere_.

The healer sidled back into the room. There was a wide smile on her face that told Gippal his worst fears were about to come true the moment those cherry red lips parted.

"Congratulations. Your wife is pregnant."

Gippal's eye rolled up into the back of his head and he dropped off the edge of his chair in a dead faint.

* * *

Gosh, more than fifty hits and one review. Come on people, I want to hear what you think of it :/ R&R! 


	4. Reaction

**Brand New Colony  
Four - Reaction**

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine Daddy!" Rikku peered over into his face, a big wide smile on her own.  
Gippal groaned and rolled over on the bed. It was a dream. He had a dream that Rikku was pregnant. 

"I'm dreaming," He mumbled and buried his head in the pillow. "I was dreaming that I knocked up my girl. _Oh man_."

Rikku's smile faltered slowly and she looked at him, a genuine fear in her eyes.

"Y- you don't want this baby?"

Eye snapping open, Gippal sat up on the bed. He blinked slowly.

"So it wasn't a dream?"

"No."

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes."

"You're really, really,_really_ pregnant."

"_Yes,_ Gippal."

"Oh," Was all Gippal managed to say. "Oh."

"You're not happy?" Rikku was shocked, she'd never expected Gippal wouldn't want the child.

"I- I- Oh_shit._" He saw the look on her face. "No. No, I am happy. Just- Surprised, that's all."

"So you want the baby?"

"Yes… yeah, I do." But then Gippal swore and looked away. "I'm not ready. Riks, I'm not _prepared_ for a kid,"

"But you _can't_ be prepared for a baby!" Rikku stiffened. Why was he suddenly so hesitant? Why was he so _scared_?! Then she realized he hadn't been too enthusiastic to start off with.

"Yeah- but-"

"But what?!" She shrugged his hand off when he reached for her arm, feeling sick. Whatever she reaction had been expecting from Gippal, it certainly wasn't this.

"But- did you think what I wanted- maybe we could've planned this together-"

"You can't plan anything... Nothing ever goes according to plan, anyway, what's the use," Her voice was small, but with a little help it could easily turn into hysteria.

Gippal sighed. He should have known better, _thinking things out_ wouldn't have helped anything at all. Rikku didn't wait, didn't think, never stalled. She went out and got it done with and if things just happened wether by accident or not she took the ride and went along with it as it developed.  
He had been the stupid one. What had he expected to gain from thinking about it anyway? If they'd sat together planning the baby they'd _die_ before they got anywhere.

"Why do you have to be so _negative_ about having a family, anyways," Rikku asked quietly. Gippal noticed she wasn't looking at him.

"I'm not _being_ negative," He replied. "I just- Maybe I could've had you to myself for a bit longer. Y'know? No?" He added, seeing the look on Rikku's face.

"I thought you'd be happy about it."

"I am-"

"You sure don't look it."

"_What am I meant to do about it, then?!_ Look, I just thought-" Gippal stopped. He realized where he had gone wrong. He needed to apologize. "I shouldn't have expected to be able to plan something like a baby. I'm sorry, kid. Rikku."

Rikku shook her head and sighed sadly. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I should have taken more care with the potion."

Gippal couldn't say anything.

* * *

Hahah, now Rikku's upset. :/  
R&R! 


	5. Resolution

**Brand New Colony**  
**Five - Resolution **

Rikku's mouth felt dry. She couldn't say anything, didn't have anything to say. Gippal hadn't responded when she'd said sorry for her mistake. Did that mean he really didn't want the baby…? 

Her mind felt blank.

The period of silence stretched on. Rikku not saying anything because she was waiting for a response from Gippal. Gippal keeping his mouth shut in case he said anything to upset her.

"Rikku," Gippal started. He took her hand in his. His voice cracked and he could've shot himself.

Rikku blinked at him, saying nothing.

"I'm sorry,"

"For what? You don't need to be." Rikku looked away pointedly. "I think I kinda already expected you'd have wanted to wait. I got my hopes up."

"It's fine," He pulled her into his arms and she pushed her head under his chin. "We're gonna have this baby, alright?"

Rikku paused and looked up, studying his face for a moment. Then, when she couldn't find any sign of hesitance or false security- she nodded...- "Okay."

Gippal stared at his desk where a picture of him and Rikku in a frame resided. Oh, well, he couldn't do anything about the baby now. It was here, she was pregnant, now. Okay, Rikku didn't think it was necessary to plan every single little detail. Fine, he could deal with it. Right?_Right?_

Somehow he wasn't sure who he was trying to persuade, himself, or Rikku and the baby. It wasn't even as if he wasn't ready in the end, anyways, he just… he just didn't want to let them down.

He sighed, stroking her hair. A baby, huh? He couldn't help but glance down at Rikku's abdomen. A baby meant… a new room, a cot, a cradle, a rocking chair. Toys, clothes, pacifiers, bottles. Endless nights of sleepless restlessness. More nights of wailing infant and even more diapers. _Money._  
Well... Look at the bright side, Gippal told himself: he was now a father.

The future had never seemed so scary. Gippal was happy, yes, now that they had confirmed Rikku was pregnant he was over the moon, and it was all a beautiful goddamn miracle, but he was scared absolutely shitless. What if Gippal proved to be a hopeless father? What if he wasn't good with the kids? What if the kids didn't like him? What if…?

Rikku sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. A baby, a baby, _a real life baby_…  
But did Gippal _really_ want it? What if Gippal, _on the inside_, wasn't_interested_? Children were a huge responsibility.  
Suddenly, a new thought crept into her mind. How about the pregnancy, what if it went wrong? Women had miscarriages. What if she and Gippal got all their hopes up, what if they set up the nursery and everything and something went wrong and she lost the baby? And if she didn't, what about the birth? Would she- would she become ill just like mama had all those years ago and end up leaving Gippal alone, with their child?


	6. Fear

**Brand New Colony**  
**Six - Fear**

* * *

"Rikku?" 

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

Rikku giggled, but it was a nervous sort of giggle. Before she had been so happy to receive the news of her pregnancy but now she looked, ah, _properly_, at it, she felt scared. She couldn't blame Gippal for being so. Was that the reason why he had been so hesitant to start a family so soon? Because he hadn't been sure of what nine months of pregnancy would bring for them?

"I'm scared, too," Rikku said. She held Gippal's hand tightly in hers and his thumb skittered across the smooth skin on the back of her hand gently. He was staring at her stomach again and she smiled.

A wave of nausea hit and she held her stomach. Gippal looked momentarily shocked, but Rikku shook her head. It wasn't a case of morning sickness. What if she ended up like her Mama, sick just before the birth? She couldn't hide what had been worrying her for the past two weeks since the visit to the healer from him anymore.

"What if something happens to me?" Rikku whispered. "What if I lose the baby?" Unexpectedly, there were tears in her eyes, but they weren't tears of happiness or joy, they were tears of fear "Gippal-" She clenched his hand tighter, suddenly terrified. "What if I end up leaving you alone, what if I end up leaving you like Mama had to leave Pops? What'll happen to-" She stopped there. It was too scary to continue, her hand flew to her stomach and she cringed.

Gippal's eye widened. The prospect of having to raise the baby without her scared him even more as raising the baby_with_ her did. The baby and Rikku were just as important to him now, but he wasn't going to let Rikku go. If something went wrong - If having a baby put Rikku in danger in any way, he was going to tell her to forget about it.

He had nothing to say, so Gippal just hugged her. It was painful to imagine life without her now that they had come so far together. But it was not going to happen. Rikku wasn't going to lose the baby.

"It won't happen, honey," Gippal rested his head on top of Rikku's head. "I won't let it happen,"

Rikku nodded. They had to focus on the bright side of things...

Why was she being so angsty all of a sudden _anyways_…?

Rikku was happy. And in truth, Gippal was too. He kept glancing at Rikku's stomach, there was a baby? In there? He had never truly appreciated the gift of life before.

Holding Gippal's hand tightly she lay on his chest, just thinking. A million questions burst in her mind, would their baby be a boy or a girl? Or twins? What about names? Should they move out of their apartment and find a house to live in?

…How about Gippal, would he be able to handle the new baby _and_ the Faction?


End file.
